Milk Bottles: From Ghost Stories at Americanfolklore.net

A California Ghost Story

retold by

S. E. Schlosser

She was just another poor, bedraggled woman, struggling to feed her family. He saw them all the time, their faces careworn, and blank. The Depression had created hundreds of them. He was one of the lucky ones who still had his grocery and money coming in to feed his family.

She came one day to his shop, carrying two empty milk bottles, and wordlessly placed them on the counter in front of him. He took the empties and replaced them with full bottles, saying: "Ten cents, please."

She did not reply. She just took the bottles and left the shop. He might have gone after her to demand his money, or called the police, but he did neither. Her need was in her face, and he always felt a little guilty at being one of the lucky ones with money and a job. She was probably one of the migrant workers, he decided.

She was back the next day with two empty milk bottles. He replaced them with full bottles and watched as she hurried out the door. She looked so worried that he wondered if she had a job at all. If she came back, he would offer her a part-time position cleaning the store.

She came again the next morning, and exchanged her empty bottles for full without saying a word. He tried to talk to her, to ask if she wanted a job, but she practically ran from the store with the milk. Her urgency worried him. He followed, wondering what he could do to help.

To his surprise, she headed away from the migrant camp outside of town. She went instead to the graveyard by the river. As he watched, she hurried up to a stone marker and then disappeared into the ground. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Then he heard the muffled cry of a baby. It was coming from the ground underneath the stone marker where the woman had disappeared!

He ran back to the store and phoned the police. Within minutes, the graveyard was swarming with people, and the workers started digging up the grave. When the casket was opened, the store owner saw the woman who had visited his store lying dead within it. In her arms, she held a small baby and two full milk bottles. The baby was still alive.

A dead mother desperately seeks to feed her starving baby, who has been buried alive, in the retelling of this ghost story featured in Spooky California by S.E. Schlosser.

Comments

Nice story.

Posted by: Jitesh | July 11, 2010 11:21 AM

wow! this one actually was very interesting! I was a bit surprised at the end. This was pretty well written and I liked it :)

Posted by: Amanda | July 16, 2010 10:38 PM

that is nice of her to feed the beby and how was that scary

Posted by: not telling | July 21, 2010 01:45 PM

wow

Posted by: Anonymous | July 21, 2010 03:22 PM

I love dis story m0ther kn0ws best she's olready dead but her hart in her baby is alive,she l0ve her baby much oww,im pr0ud with her n0t t0o scary but im touch in dis story if its true,oww maybe im crying n0w,

Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2010 03:46 PM

it was very touching...a mother is the greatest of all creations..

Posted by: Silvia | July 26, 2010 06:04 PM

Eeegh...creepy. Well, not exactly creepy, but just...weird...

Posted by: americanducklover | July 27, 2010 06:59 PM

wow this story suprised me its sweet that the dead mother tried to keep her baby alive even when she was dead but its also a little creepy seeing a baby in the hands on a dead women under ground

Posted by: yajaira | July 29, 2010 04:07 PM

honestly,I heard this story...from my dad...who was a storyteller...he said it was a story happened in pampanga,philippines...

Posted by: Anonymous | August 1, 2010 05:25 AM

it was awesome

Posted by: Anonymous | August 3, 2010 08:25 PM

this story really is touching but what i dont understand is how the mother dead an yet the babyis still alive it really makes no sence and i think it is soooo weird is how the mother and baby are buried together

Posted by: maggie green | August 5, 2010 11:40 AM

very touching.she fed her baby even she was dead

Posted by: aditi | August 25, 2010 05:40 AM

nice story

Posted by: Anonymous | September 2, 2010 11:12 AM

touching, the mother(a ghost) basicly stole all those milk bottles, just to feed her baby. hey, is the baby a ghost too? just struggling to survive, until the depression is over?

Posted by: pixy | September 6, 2010 03:49 PM

what a nice old lady :)

Posted by: noneedtoknow | September 10, 2010 10:33 PM

Told you not all ghosts and their stories are bad. Mom's love transcends beyond graves indeed.

Posted by: Alterra | September 18, 2010 01:32 AM

Wow it's creepy but soooooo sweet at the same time. She's dead, her babies been buried alive and she still is makin sure he's healthy. I wonder if they get the poor baby out.?

Posted by: Angel | October 2, 2010 08:53 PM

This was a good story!-_-

Posted by: donnia | October 9, 2010 05:26 PM

Really nice story with quite a shocking end. This one, or even similar, I've never heard before. Seems like the legends of the West are rather different and somewhat distinguishable from the ones in ole' New England.

Posted by: Herne the Hunter | October 10, 2010 06:54 PM

so sweet! i would so save my baby like that!

Posted by: Anonymous | October 12, 2010 05:47 PM

that was pretty cool how the mother kept feeding her baby even when dead.

Posted by: no way | October 17, 2010 05:57 PM

Wow; i really like it that was a shocker at the endd ! I would have never thought that'<33

Posted by: Anonymous | October 21, 2010 08:16 PM

very good story i was waiting 4 this one . its really very different and the end is really unexpected. i loved it
keep up the good work

Posted by: Anonymous | October 26, 2010 08:48 AM

I dont get it, she didn't have a home so she lived in a coffin and tried to feed her baby and died?

Posted by: Anonymous | October 28, 2010 11:41 AM

Wow what a touching story!
P.S I don't like milk

Posted by: Flubberdubber | November 9, 2010 05:03 PM

that was such an awesome story and so freaky to how could the baby be still alive and the mom dead so she couldnt feed or take care of her baby and what perverse reason would someone bury a baby alive

Posted by: vanessa | November 10, 2010 12:22 PM

I wonder why they buried the baby. It's a good thing he followed her - or the baby might have died.

Posted by: Renee | November 20, 2010 05:36 AM

wait...wouldn't the baby suffocate in the coffin??

Posted by: KittyKat | November 23, 2010 05:08 PM

Thank God that the baby didn`t die from lack of air. And what kind of moron would burry a baby with his/her dead mother!?

Posted by: Joe | November 25, 2010 02:38 AM

Woww! This Is A Good Story!

Posted by: maddie | December 3, 2010 08:19 PM

I grew into teary eyes when I read it. That is what a good mother
should be like.
I am only 8 but i still know it.

Posted by: angelina | December 24, 2010 03:56 PM

awww how cute :) now thats a true mother